Opinion
TGR Staff - 07/13/2021
There is no shortage of microbrand watchmakers producing supercar-inspired watches these days, we just featured the Swiss-made Olympus Watch Co. Galante Chronograph, a very nice watch that launches this month and uses parts from a salvaged Lamborghini. But when we saw the Atowak Ettore it captured our attention, and mostly for the wrong reasons.
From what we can figure out, Atowak Watches has been making watches as a brand since around July of 2020, while their Kickstarter and marketing materials make it seem as if they are based in Hong Kong, the reality is the company is based in Shenzhen, and it really does make a difference. Factories in Shenzhen are major suppliers to Alibaba offering watches as low as just a few dollars and the region is known for producing cloned movements.
While the brand's PR pitch says the "watches feature the complexity of wandering hour timepieces reserved for high-end watches in its own exclusive custom movement." Digging into the materials it appears that their "in house" movements are based on modified Miyota movements. Who is doing, or where the modifications are happening is not clear, but since Miyota assembles all of their movements in Japan using only Japanese parts made in their own factories, we haven't put our hands on an Atowak but from the up-close shots in video reviews we could find the watches have a lot of scratches right out of the box. Plus we couldn't find any unpaid reviews for the watches and since we couldn't get our hands on one, it would be hard to recommend buying one.
Atowak has two versions of the Ettore watch the 'Drift' and the 'Lite' which are have a list price of $1,199 and $649 each. However, this is a Kickstarter so they are offering the watches "discounted" prices for those who pre-order watches.
Then there is how this watch looks, it is suggested by the name Ettore and the shape that this watch is inspired by Bugatti (they openly use photos of Bugatti vehicles in their marketing). But unlike the unique artistry produced by Jacob & Co. in official partnership with Bugatti, the Ettore Drift, and Lite feel gimmicky, the design feels like it is different for the sake of being different, it is like the MB&F HM4 Thunderbolt, but not pretty. You would expect a watch inspired by Bugatti, to well, be the Bugatti of watches.
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